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Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., talks to a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature, not seen, while touring a seawall on Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth, Mass., while campaigning Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
(Photo by The Associated Press)

SPRINGFIELD - Although job approval isn't an indicator of who will win an election, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown gets the thumbs up from 57 percent of likely voters in Massachusetts, according to a new poll.

A live telephone survey conducted by the Western New England University Polling Institute through a partnership with The Republican/MassLive.com concluded that Brown's job approval climbed 2 points since the previous poll taken a month ago.

Thirty-one percent of likely voters said they disapprove of the way Brown is doing the job and 13 percent said they weren't sure or refused to answer the question, according to the survey.

Among members of his own party, which make up 11 percent of the state's registered voters, 96 percent say they approve of the way Brown is conducting his duties as a senator.

Twenty-five percent of Democrats approve while 56 percent said they do not, but in the case of independents, which make up more than half of the registered voters in the state, Brown's approval rating is a solid 75 percent.

Independent voters also prefer Brown over Warren in regards to the overall Senate election, 64-31 percent.

When broken down according to gender, Brown's job approval is strong among both men and women with 65 and 49 percent, respectively, although women support Warren over the junior senator, 60-36 percent.

The overall choice between Brown and Warren for the Senate split along party and gender lines, and remained steady since the last poll, with most independents, Republicans and men supporting Brown while Democrats and women largely support Warren.

The telephone survey of 535 likely voters has a 4 percent margin of error.